"Let me rest for a second!"
He was a hit with the kids.

The beach was very crowded near the pier. On Sunday they had a DJ to play beach music.

Tanning.
Despite my efforts of shading my face with the umbrella, my nose still got red. I finally finished this book that I had been reading for a couple of months- 1776. I highly recommend it. George Washington is now one of my heroes. I also read some Francine Rivers fiction over the weekend. Bow stayed on the porch most of the weekend. We let him in to hang out with us this once. None of us really spent much time inside.Yes, I'm still working on that quilt (bottom right corner). We hope to finish as soon as school lets out!Jonathan and Joy stayed in a gorgeous Bed & Breakfast in Beaufort, the Pecan Tree Inn.

Grandpa Hunter and Uncle David live in Newport, about 5-8 minutes from the island.

Last night we headed over to the Flores house for another birthday party. Sierra turns 21 tomorrow! We had lasagna dinner and yellow cake with chocolate icing. Sierra opened gifts (I loved these potted plants that Stephen and Michael gave her), and had deep conversations about snakes. She is going to have a party on Saturday night with friends and her family. Happy Birthday, Sierra!

Tomorrow is also Grandma's birthday. We are driving to the beach tomorrow after work to celebrate with her, and spend the Memorial Day holiday (no work on Monday!). Let's hope my pale white skin doesn't get burned!

It's hard for us to make weeknight commitments because of work and needing to eat, etc. Aaron has, however, been doing the same thing every Tuesday night for several months now. He goes to the Y to join the pickup volleyball games. He's getting really good. He likes it because everyone is there just to have fun and it's not so serious. He does whatever it takes to get there on these nights! The only thing about it is that we end up eating dinner around 9 or 9:30 :(Not a great shot, but I was trying to hurry (I realized when I got there that it might be embarrassing for me to be taking pictures, so I snuck in the corner and tried to be discreet). Aaron is on the left with his back facing us.

Aaron had been gone all weekend, so yesterday I tried to make our home as pleasing as possible for him when he returned. Among other things, I lit candles to make the rooms smell good and I washed our sheets. I shouldn't have done both of those things at the same time:

I set the sheets on fire in our bedroom! Thankfully it didn't become too desperate, but it was a little scary. The sad thing is that Aaron gave them to me as a gift and they were really good sheets. The good thing is that mom and dad gave me some new sheets for my birthday last week! I need to find another way to make the house smell good.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, for the past 4 months or so, I have been going over to Maria's house after school. On Tuesdays we speak only English so that she can practice. On Thursdays we speak only Spanish so that I can practice. It has been a very worthwhile arrangement. I have become good friends with her and enjoy learning about her life.

She is moving this weekend to Nebraska :( Her husband got a job transfer! I will miss her and her daughters (I teach both of them).

A couple of months ago mom went to get a pedicure and the woman encouraged her to go monthly to take care of her toenails. She wanted some company, and I'm the girl for the job! It's fun to look forward to nice, freshly painted nails every 4 weeks! It's so relaxing, too. Good bonding time. We were there today.

I can't get away from the hot pink!

This weekend we celebrated my birthday and Mother's Day. We were all good to each other. On Saturday Mom, Grandma, and Sierra took me out to a big breakfast. I was encouraged that Grandma came from Raleigh to see us! Afterwards, they dropped me off in downtown Roanoke to paint pottery with my friend Kari- we both painted something to hang on the walls in our homes. I didn't get a picture of either of these events :(, but when I pick up the fired and glazed pottery, I'll bring my camera!
When I got back, Aaron and I took a long afternoon nap and got up in time to get my gift: an outfit from my favorite store, Ann Taylor Loft. He picked out what he liked and that's what we went with! He included the whole package in the gift: the skirt, top, shoes, sunglasses, purse, and headband. It was a fun experience. When we got back, Aaron made a steak dinner for me. He even had a birthday cake and sang to me! We ate on our deck, and as soon as we were finished, the fireworks started going off and we were able to watch together. Now, he's magical, but he wasn't the one to orchestrate fireworks for my birthday. They just happened to be doing them at the baseball stadium across the street from us. It was a memorable night!On Sunday after church we went to my parents' house for lunch and swimming. We celebrated Mother's Day and my birthday. I got a couple of gift cards, a birthday book, and mom crocheted this awesome blanket for the black and white room in our house. She spent a lot of time on it! We also gave gifts to mom for her day. It was a relaxing afternoon... (I didn't drop my pants for the photo...I am wearing a bathing suit.)

Dad served mom on Mother's Day by helping her clean the pool.

Stephen arrived home late Sunday night. We met him at the airport with mom, dad, Michael, Joey, and Sierra, and then everyone came over to have dessert and carry on the excitement of having Stephen home. He was tired, but slept in on Monday so that we could go to Outback that night for a celebration and to hear more about his trip. Today he and I had lunch together, too...practicing our Spanish!Nothing like huggin' your mom or dad's neck after having been abroad for 4 months!

The weary traveler (48 hours no sleep).

Last night we had our monthly social so that the couples in our class can get to know each other better. It was our turn to host the social, so we proposed a dress-up date night! We all dressed up and went to downtown Roanoke to the same restaurant that Aaron and I went to for our anniversary. Then we came back to our house for dessert and conversation.

Mrs. Susan Reynolds

Yesterday was my oldest brother's 26th birthday. On Sunday we had a pool party at our parent's house. Mom served crab legs and dad grilled steaks. We played Marco Polo in the pool and relaxed in the hot tub. He opened gifts and we had cake. What a great party!
You'll notice that my dad has his uniform on on a Sunday night. Our party must not have been as fun for him because he left to go to work for about an hour!

On Sunday we invited a family from our church and a family that I work with in Vinton over to our home for lunch and to the Salem Avalanche baseball game. We had a blast! There were 11 people in the house...the most we've had so far in here, but it worked well. We learned a lot about Liberia and Togo, the countries that these families are from. I think they were happy to meet each other. It was a great afternoon!